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News on ethics in medicine and biotechnology: November 2004


Member states divided on GM maize

EU member states once again showed themselves to be divided on the issue of genetically modified foods following a meeting of environment experts on Monday (29 November).

30 November 2004, EU Observer
http://www.euobserver.com/?sid=9&aid=17869

Related News:
European Union: Decisions on national bans on GMOs to be referred to Council of Ministers (SeedQuest, 30 November 2004)
EU Deadlock Over Biotech Products Unbroken (AgBios.com, 30 November 2004)
EU Commission will ask five EU member states to lift GM bans (SeedQuest, 26 November 2004)

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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Ban on suicide journey is lifted

The High Court has lifted an injunction banning a man from taking his chronically-sick wife to Switzerland for an assisted suicide.

30 November 2004, BBC News (UK)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4056149.stm

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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GM crops 'no threat to wildlife'

A four-year experiment with genetically modified crops has found no evidence of threat to British wildlife, scientists announced yesterday.

30 November 2004, The Guardian (UK)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/0,2763,1362384,00.html

Related News:
New study casts doubt on claims GM crops damage environment (AgBios.com, 30 November 2004)
Campaigners dismiss 'safe GM' report (The Guardian, 29 November, 2004)
UK study finds GM benefits (CORDIS News, 29 November 2004)

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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Swiss support stem cells

Voters in Switzerland on Sunday (November 28) overwhelmingly supported a new law already approved by Parliament that will allow extraction of stem cells human embryos up to 7 days old to be used for research.

29 November 2004, The Scientist
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20041025/02/

Related News:
Switzerland votes in favour of stem cell research (EU Oberver, 20 November 2004)
Swiss endorse stem cell research (BBC News, 28 November 2004)

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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Syngenta halts genetic engineering projects in Europe

Syngenta, the world biggest agro-chemicals group based in Basel, has halted all its European field trials of genetically modified plants and seed material varieties.

29 November 2004, SeedQuest
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2004/november/10637.htm

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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New studies show umbilical cord blood could save thousands of adults

A European study provides evidence that umbilical cord blood is just as effective as bone marrow when it come to treating patients with cancer.

29 November 2004, Corethics.org
http://www.corethics.org/document.asp?id=n291104a.txt&se=4&st=5

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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Egg Banks and Sperm Imports in the UK...

More Danish sperm to make up UK shortfall (29 November 2004, BioNews)
First egg bank to open in the UK (29 November 2004, BioNews)
HFEA launches donor conception consultation (12 November 2004, BioNews)
Egg and sperm donor cash proposal (11 November 2004, BBC News)

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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Designer Babies to treat the older sibling: successes and failures...

Mother carrying 'designer baby' (29 November 2004, BBC News)
Fletchers conceive 'saviour sibling' (29 November 2004, BioNews)

Boy wants minority marrow donors (24 November 2004, BBC News)
Hashmis launch bone marrow donor campaign (22 November 2004, BioNews)

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine establish lab network for control and analysis of GM food

The newly established Black Sea Biotechnology Association (BSB Association) - made up of Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine - has recently established a laboratory network for the analysis and control of foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

26 November 2004, SeedQuest
http://www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2004/november/10605.htm

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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German farmers to be liable for GM contamination

The German parliament has passed a controversial legal amendment that will protect farmers who grow conventional crops from any contamination by genetically modified versions.

26 November 2004, New Scientist
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996729

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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Confusion over French GM law

France is still a long way from introducing legislation to transpose an EU directive on genetically modified (GM) crops into national law, in spite of a statement by President Jacques Chirac on October 21 that a draft law would be ready within 2 weeks.

25 November 2004, The Scientist
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20041125/02/

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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Call to track health of IVF children

The UK's Medical Research Council (MRC) has published a report highlighting the need for 'improved monitoring and evaluation of assisted reproduction technology (ART)'.

24 November 2004, Bio News
http://www.bionews.org.uk/new.lasso?storyid=2359

Related News:
Evidence for health of IVF babies "relatively weak" (Scotsman, quoted by BioEdge, 23 November 2004)

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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German GM study complete

The organizers of a research project in which German fields were planted with genetically modified (GM) corn said today (November 24) that the test results prove that GM corn fields can "co-exist" with neighboring non-GM fields.

24 November 2004, The Scientist
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20041124/04/

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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UN proposes cloning compromise

UNITED NATIONS—After years of trying to hammer out a resolution on human cloning, the legal committee of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday (November 19) considered the possibility of a non-binding declaration that asks member states to prohibit reproductive cloning and adopt legislation to respect "human dignity."

23 November 2004, The Scientist
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20041123/02/

Related News:
UN sidesteps international cloning ban (22 November 2004, BioNews)

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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Legal challenge to first UK cloning licence

Opponents of research cloning have served an application for a judicial review on the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), over its decision to issue the first licence granting permission to create cloned human embryos.

19 November 204, BioNews
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20041011/02

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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First international standard for common genetic test approved by WHO

The first international standard for a human genetic test was approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) today.

17 November 20, WHO Media Centre
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2004/pr84/en/

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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UK aims to lead the scientific world

The UK can become the world capital of science, the UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has said.

17 November 204, CORDIS News
http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/srchidadb?CALLER=NHP_EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=EN_RCN_ID:22930

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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Clinical trial uses adult stem cells to reverse liver damage

The Hammersmith Hospital in London has announced plans to recruit patients with liver failure to take part in clinical trials using adult stem cells.

15 November 2004, Corethics.org
http://www.checkbiotech.org/root/index.cfm?fuseaction=newsletter&topic_id=1&subtopic_id=8&doc_id=8771

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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Pope condemns euthanasia

Pope John Paul has branded euthanasia a distortion of medical ethics, saying doctors could not decide "who can live and who must die".

12 November 2004, Reuters UK
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=620251&src=rss/uk/worldNews&section=news

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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Gene therapy targets cholesterol levels

German researchers have used a novel gene therapy approach to reduce blood cholesterol levels in mice.

11 November 2004, BioNews
http://www.bionews.org.uk/new.lasso?storyid=2344

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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Spain allows stem cell research

The Spanish government has approved a series of measures to allow research on embryonic stem cells.

2 November 2004, CORDIS News
http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/srchidadb?CALLER=NHP_EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=EN_RCN_ID:22859

Related News:
Spain approves rules for stem cell research (BioNews, 8 November 2004)
Spain eases embryo research (The Scientist, 1 November 2004)

(Submitted by SIBLE, UK)

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